JPH04235488A - Monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently connect a plurality of video signal switching device. CONSTITUTION:In a monitoring system adopting a plurality of video signal switching devices 100,200,... outputting video signals supplied by a plurality of video cameras 101, 102,... by means of changeover, a plurality of video signal switching devices are divided into several groups, master video signal switching devices 100, 500,... in each group are controlled by a control means 70, various kinds of control such as changeover can be conducted at the side of control means 70, and the working state in the respective video signal switching devices can be grasped at the side of the control means 70.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a monitoring system.
In particular, the present invention relates to a surveillance system that monitors multiple locations by switching between multiple surveillance video cameras using a switching device.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when video cameras for surveillance are installed at multiple locations, it is conceivable to provide as many monitor receivers as there are video cameras, and have each monitor receiver receive the image of each monitoring location. As the number of places to be monitored increases, the number of monitor receivers as well as video cameras increases, resulting in the inconvenience that the configuration of the monitoring system becomes complicated. In addition, when recording video signals captured by a surveillance video camera on a video tape recorder (VTR) instead of a monitor receiver, similarly, as the number of places to be monitored increases, the number of VTRs increases. This has the disadvantage of complicating the configuration of the monitoring system.

For this reason, a video signal switching device for surveillance cameras has been put into practical use that switches video signals supplied from surveillance video cameras installed at multiple locations and selectively supplies them to one monitor receiver. .

[0004] This video signal switching device for surveillance cameras is one in which video signals supplied from, for example, a plurality of connected surveillance video cameras are sequentially switched at predetermined intervals and supplied to a single monitor receiver. It is. By using this video signal switching device, supervisors can monitor all locations simply by viewing the video displayed on one monitor receiver, making it easy to configure the surveillance system. At the same time, the supervisor can easily perform monitoring. Furthermore, even when a video signal obtained by a surveillance video camera is recorded on a VTR, by using this video signal switching device, the video signal can be efficiently recorded on a single VTR.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with this type of video signal switching device for surveillance cameras, there is a limit to the number of video cameras that can be connected with one switching device.For example, one switching device can connect eight video cameras. However, if more than eight video cameras are to be used for monitoring, it is necessary to use two or more switching devices. In this case, if a monitor receiver or VTR is connected to each switching device, the number of monitor receivers or VTRs required increases accordingly, resulting in an inconvenience that the system configuration becomes complicated.

An object of the present invention is to enable a plurality of video signal switching devices to be linked together with a simple configuration.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a plurality of surveillance video cameras (101 to 10), as shown in FIG.
A video signal switching device (100, 200, 3) that switches and outputs video signals supplied from
In a monitoring system using multiple video signal switching devices (100, 200, 300)
are divided into groups of several units, and for each group, one predetermined video signal switching device (100, 500...) is the master, and the other video signal switching devices (200, 300...) are slaves. In addition, the master video signal switching device (100, 5
00...) and a storage means (72) connected to the control means (71), the control means (71) switches to the master video signal switching device of each group. Transmits data to control switching in all video signal switching devices in each group, and transmits data regarding alarm signals supplied to all video signal switching devices in each group to the master video signal switching device in each group. The information is transmitted from the device to the control means (71) and stored in the storage means (7) connected to the control means (71).
2) stores this data.

[0008] Furthermore, the present invention provides, for example, as shown in FIG.
Multiple surveillance video cameras (101-108, 201-
In a monitoring system using a plurality of video signal switching devices (100, 200, 300...) that switch and output video signals supplied from A control means (71) for controlling the control means (71) and a still image storage means (73) connected to the control means (71) are provided.
The switching data is transmitted from to all video signal switching devices (
100, 200, 300...), and any video signal switching device (100, 200, 3...).
When data regarding an alarm signal is transmitted from 00...) to the control means (71), the video signal from the surveillance video camera corresponding to this alarm signal is stored in the still image storage means (73). It is.

[0009] Furthermore, the present invention provides, for example, as shown in FIG.
Multiple surveillance video cameras (101-108, 201-
In a monitoring system using a plurality of video signal switching devices (100, 200, 300...) that switch and output video signals supplied from control means (71) for controlling the video signal switching device (100, 200);
, 300...) transmission means (7
4), and transmits switching data from the control means (71) to all video signal switching devices (100, 200, 30
0...), and when data regarding an alarm signal is transmitted from any video signal switching device to the control means (71), the video signal from the surveillance video camera corresponding to this alarm signal is controlled. , the transmission means (7
4), the data is transmitted to a predetermined location.

0010

[Function] By doing this, when an abnormality occurs in the monitoring location of each video camera and an alarm signal is supplied, data related to this alarm signal is stored all at once on the control means side of the center, and multiple The status of the monitoring location can be centrally monitored efficiently.

Furthermore, in this case, when an abnormality occurs at each monitoring location and an alarm signal is supplied, a still image taken from a video camera that captures the corresponding monitoring location is stored in the still image storage means of the center. , the center side can determine the occurrence of an abnormality.

Furthermore, in this case, when an abnormality occurs at each monitoring location and an alarm signal is supplied, a still image from a video camera that captures the corresponding monitoring location is transmitted to a predetermined location. It is possible to judge the occurrence of an abnormality from a remote location.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the video signal switching device used in the monitoring system of this example will be explained using FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the video signal switching device of this example. This video signal switching device is used for switching the output video of a surveillance video camera. In the figure, 1 indicates each circuit of the video signal switching device. A central control unit (C
PU), and under the control of this central control device 1, switching is performed by a changeover switch 2 for changing the video signal. Further, in the figure, 11, 12, 13...19 indicate the first to ninth video input terminals, and the respective input terminals 11, 12, 13...1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a terminal to which a video signal captured and output by a surveillance video camera is supplied. In this case, a maximum of eight video cameras are connected to the first to eighth input terminals 11 to 18, and other video signal switching devices and the like are connected to the ninth input terminal 19. In addition, when connecting a plurality of video signal switching devices to be described later, the video signals output from the other video signal switching devices are supplied to this ninth input terminal 19.

[0015] Then, the video signals obtained from the video cameras and the like to the video input terminals 11, 12, 13, . The video signal from the camera (or other video signal switching device, etc.) is output.

In this case, in this example, the central control device 1
When the switching is performed under the control of the input terminals 11 to 19, the switching is performed within the vertical blanking period of the video signals obtained at the input terminals 11 to 19. That is, when it becomes necessary to switch the input video, the central control device 1 waits until the supplied video signal enters the vertical blanking period, and then outputs the switching signal. Note that the vertical blanking periods of the video signals obtained at each of the input terminals 11 to 19 are aligned with the same timing, as will be described later.

The video signal selected by the selector switch 2 is supplied to the output terminal 4 via the superimpose circuit 3. By connecting a monitor receiver or a VTR to this output terminal 4, it is possible to display an image of the monitored place on the monitor receiver or to display an image of the monitored place on the VTR.

Reference numeral 5 in the figure indicates a character generation circuit, and this character generation circuit 5 is equipped with a memory (not shown) for storing character data such as characters and symbols, and the stored character data is transmitted to the central control unit. 1 and supplies it to the superimpose circuit 3. Then, the character data supplied to the superimpose circuit 3 is superimposed on the video signal supplied from the changeover switch 2, and the video signal with this character superimposed is output to the output terminal 4.
supply to. The superimposed character data includes numbers indicating the selected camera number, date and time, characters indicating the setting status of various operation modes, and the like.

Further, in the figure, 20 indicates an input selection switch, and 30 indicates an active switch. Each of the switches 20 and 30 is composed of eight switches, numbered 1 to 8, corresponding to the eight video cameras connected to the video input terminals 11 to 18, and is configured on the front panel of this video signal switching device. The control unit 1 is arranged so that operation commands for the respective switches are supplied to the central control unit 1. In this case, each of the switches 20 and 30 can be individually turned on under the control of the central control device 1.

The input selection switch 20 can specify the video camera (input terminal) selected by the changeover switch 2, and can also specify the currently selected video by the above-mentioned lighting function under the control of the central control device 1. Turn on the switch number corresponding to the camera. Further, the active switch 30 is capable of instructing a video camera to be selected in an automatic switching mode to be described later, and lights up a switch numbered corresponding to the selected video camera under the control of the central controller 1.

Further, reference numeral 6 in the figure indicates a setting switch, and this setting switch 6 is composed of a plurality of keys, etc., and the operation command of each key is supplied to the central control unit 1. There are some that are arranged on the front panel together with 30, and others that are composed of dip switches and the like and are arranged on the back. In this case, various modes controlled by the central controller 1 can be set by operating each key. When making these settings, the settings can be confirmed by displaying them on the screen of a monitor receiver connected to the video signal switching device. That is, when setting various modes, etc., the character data from the character generation circuit 5 is superimposed in the superimpose circuit 3, so that characters and numbers indicating the setting state etc. are added to the video signal output from the output terminal 4. Contains information such as.

The central control unit 1 also includes a memory device 7.
is connected. This memory device 7 is composed of a ROM 7a from which only pre-stored data is read, and a RAM 7b from which the stored data can be rewritten.The ROM 7a is replaceable, and the RAM 7b is used as a backup to prevent the storage data from being lost. A power source (not shown) is provided.

Furthermore, a clock device 8 is connected to the central control device 1, and current time data counted by the clock device 8 is supplied to the central control device 1 and the memory device 7. In this case, the current time data supplied to the memory device 7 is
The RAM 7b is configured to be able to store information according to instructions from the central control device 1.

In the figure, 41, 42, 43...48 indicate first to eighth alarm input terminals, and these alarm input terminals 41 to 48 are connected to the first to eighth video input terminals 11 to 48.
It is compatible with 8 video cameras connected to 18, and an alarm signal is supplied from a sensor (infrared sensor, etc.) installed at the monitoring location of each video camera.
Alarm signals obtained at the input terminals 41 to 48 are supplied to the central control device 1. When this alarm signal is supplied to the central control device 1, the changeover switch 2 selects and outputs the video signal from the video camera corresponding to the number of the supplied terminal, and also outputs the video signal from the video camera corresponding to the terminal number supplied with the alarm signal. The number and time data are stored in the RAM 7b. Further, an alarm circuit 9 is connected to the central control device 1, and this alarm circuit 9 is composed of a speaker and a warning lamp, and depending on the set operation mode, when an alarm signal is supplied, a warning sound is emitted from the speaker. The output is output and the warning lamp flashes. A mode in which the warning sound is output and the warning lamp flashes for a preset time (10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.) and a mode in which it continues until the alarm is canceled are provided.

Furthermore, the central control device 1 of this embodiment has control data bus lines 1a and 1b for communicating control data with other video signal switching devices and computer devices. Control data is communicated with the device connected to the connection terminal 1b.

Now, to explain the case where a plurality of video signal switching devices are connected using these bus lines 1a and 1b, using these bus lines 1a and 1b,
The respective video signal switching devices are connected in cascade as shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 2, 100, 200, 300,
Reference numeral 400 indicates first, second, third, and fourth video signal switching devices, and these four video signal switching devices 100 to 400 have the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and are the same.

Then, by operating a predetermined key (or a switch such as a dip switch) constituting the setting switch 6 of the first video signal switching device 100, the first video signal switching device 100 is set as the master switching device. Set.

[0028] Then, the video signal switching devices 100, 200
, 300 are connected to the connection terminals of the bus lines 1b of the video signal switching devices 200, 300, and 400. And each video signal switching device 1
Eight video cameras 101-108, 201-208 are connected to the first to eighth video input terminals 11-18 of 00-400.
, 301-308, 401-408, total 32
Connect a video camera. In this case, each of the video cameras 101 to 408 is supplied with a synchronization signal from the synchronization signal generator 61, and this synchronization signal causes the video cameras 101 to 408 to capture images at the same timing. Make the synchronization signals have the same timing. Note that this synchronizing signal generator 61 also includes a power supply circuit, and the synchronizing signal generator 61 also supplies the power required by each video camera 101 to 408.

The video signal obtained at the output terminal 4 of the fourth video signal switching device 400 is then supplied to the ninth video input terminal 19 of the third video signal switching device 300. Furthermore, in the same manner, the video signal obtained at the output terminal 4 of the third video signal switching device 300 is transferred to the second video signal switching device 2.
The video signal supplied to the ninth video input terminal 19 of 00 and obtained at the output terminal 4 of the second video signal switching device 200 is
Ninth video input terminal 1 of first video signal switching device 100
Supply to 9. Then, the first video signal switching device 100
The video signal obtained at the output terminal 4 of the monitor receiver 51
supply to. Alternatively, instead of the monitor receiver 51, a VT
Connect R (not shown).

When a plurality of video signal switching devices 100 to 400 are connected in this manner, by operating the setting switch 6 described above, the first video signal switching device 100 connected to the monitor receiver 51 is switched to the master video signal. The other video signal switching devices 200 to 400 are connected to the master video signal switching device 10 via the bus lines 1a and 1b.
When a command is sent from 0, it automatically operates as a slave video signal switching device. That is, the central control device 1 of each video signal switching device is set to operate as a slave video signal switching device when a command related to switching, etc. is transmitted from another device via the bus line 1a or 1b. be. Once the master and slave are set in this way, subsequent operations such as switching are performed under the control of the central control device 1 of the master video signal switching device 100, and the slave side central control device 1 Performs switching operations, etc. in response to commands transmitted from the side. Note that when there is a response to the command via the bus lines 1a and 1b, the master video signal switching device 100 side determines that there is a corresponding slave video signal switching device, and switches the video signal of the connected slave. Determine the number of devices. Furthermore, when the master video signal switching device no longer sends commands, each video signal switching device begins to operate independently.

After determining the number of connected slave video signal switching devices, the first to eighth video input terminals 11 to 18 of the master video signal switching device 100 are
In addition to setting input numbers 1 to 8, the first to eighth video input terminals 11 to 18 of the video signal switching devices 200, 300, and 400 of each slave are set to input numbers 9 to 16, and 1, respectively.
Automatically assigned to 7-24, 25-32. and,
When an input switching operation is performed, the assigned input number is superimposed by the superimpose circuit 3 of the master video signal switching device 100 and displayed on the monitor receiver 51.

Here, this master video signal switching device 1
00 and the slave video signal switching devices 200 to 400 via the bus lines 1a and 1b. Communication between the video signal switching devices is as shown in FIG. Video camera 101-4
A period a during which a command is transmitted from the master video signal switching device 100 to the second video signal switching device 200 within one vertical period (1V) corresponding to one field period of the video signal supplied from 08; , a period b in which a response is made from the second video signal switching device 200 to the master video signal switching device 100, and a period b during which a command is sent from the master video signal switching device 100 to the third video signal switching device 300. a period c in which a response is made from the third video signal switching device 300 to the master video signal switching device 100, and a command from the master video signal switching device 100 to the fourth video signal switching device 400. A period e during which transmission is performed and a period f during which a response is made from the fourth video signal switching device 400 to the master video signal switching device 100 are set. In this way, the master video signal switching device 1
00 and each of the slave video signal switching devices 200 to 400, mutual communication is performed between the master and all slaves within one vertical period. Therefore, the transmission of commands from the master video signal switching device 100 to each slave video signal switching device 200 to 400 is completed within one vertical period. If there are responses b, d, and f to the command transmission in all periods as described above, it is determined that three slaves are connected on the master video signal switching device 100 side. Note that the command transmissions or responses a to f in each period include address data of the destination.

Next, to explain the operation when a plurality of video signal switching devices are connected as shown in FIG. 2, first, by operating the setting switch 6 of the master video signal switching device 100, the Assume that you have selected a mode in which switching occurs every second. At this time, the central control device 1 of the master video signal switching device 100 controls each video signal switching device 10.
Determine the state of the active switch 30 from 0 to 400,
The video camera that is activated by each active switch 30 is determined.

For example, when all the video cameras are set to the active state, the video cameras 101 connected to all the video signal switching devices 100 to 400
It controls so that the images from 408 to 408 are sequentially supplied to the monitor receiver 51 from the output terminal 4. That is, first, the changeover switch 2 is switched so that the video signal from the video camera 101 connected to the first video input terminal 11 of the first video signal switching device 100 is outputted from the output terminal 4. At this time, the input selection switch 20 corresponding to the video camera 101 is turned on. Then, when the video signal is output from the video camera 101 for one second, the second video input terminal 12 of the first video signal switching device 100
The video signal from the video camera 102 connected to the output terminal 4 is switched to be output from the output terminal 4. At this time, the input selection switch 20 corresponding to the video camera 102 is turned on. Thereafter, similarly, the video signals from the video cameras 103, 104, . In this way, the video signals from the eight video cameras 101 to 108 are switched and output from the output terminal 4 every second, and the video signals from the eight video cameras 101 to 108 are output to the monitor receiver 51.
Videos from 08 onwards are displayed in order every second.

When one second has elapsed since the video signal from the video camera 108 was output from the output terminal 4, the ninth video input terminal 19 is selected using the changeover switch 2 of the first video signal switching device 100. At the same time, in response to a command from the central control device 1 of the master (first) video signal switching device 100, the changeover switch 2 of the second video signal switching device 200 is switched to the video signal connected to the first video input terminal 11. The video signal from the camera 201 is switched to be output from the output terminal 4. At this time, the input selection switch 20 of the second video signal switching device 200 corresponding to the video camera 201 is turned on.

By doing this, the video signal from this video camera 201 is transferred to the second video signal switching device 20.
The signal is supplied from the output terminal 4 of 0 to the ninth video input terminal 19 of the first video signal switching device 100, and further from the ninth video input terminal 19 to the first video signal switching device via the changeover switch 2. 100, and a video taken by the video camera 201 is displayed on a monitor receiver 51 connected to the output terminal 4.

Then, one second after the video signal from the video camera 201 is output from the output terminal 4 of the first video signal switching device 100, the first video signal switching device 100 With the changeover switch 2 of the second video signal switching device 200 unchanged, changeover switch 2 of the second video signal switching device 200
is switched so that the video signal from the video camera 202 is output from the output terminal 4. Also at this time, the second video signal switching device 20 corresponding to the video camera 202
0 input selection switch 20 is turned on. Then, in the same manner, the video cameras 203, 204...
The video signal from 208 is switched to be output from the output terminal 4, and the corresponding input selection switch 20 is lit for each switch. In this way, the video signals from the eight video cameras 201 to 208 are switched every second from the output terminal 4 of the second video signal switching device 200 and the output terminal 4 of the first video signal switching device 100. The video cameras 101 to 108 are output to the monitor receiver 51.
After the video signal from the video camera 201 is displayed,
The images from ~208 are displayed in order every second.

When one second has elapsed since the video signal from the video camera 208 was output, the switch 2 of the first video signal switching device 100 is selected to select the ninth video input terminal 19. In response to a command from the central control device 1 of the master (first) video signal switching device 100, the changeover switch 2 of the second video signal switching device 200 selects the ninth video input terminal 19, and then the third video signal switching device 200 selects the ninth video input terminal 19. The changeover switch 2 of the signal switching device 300 is used to switch the video signal from the video camera 301 connected to the first video input terminal 11 so that it is output from the output terminal 4. At this time, the input selection switch 20 of the third video signal switching device 300 corresponding to the video camera 301 is turned on.

By doing this, the video signal from this video camera 301 is transferred to the third video signal switching device 30.
0 from the output terminal 4 of the second video signal switching device 200 to the ninth video input terminal 19 of the second video signal switching device 200, and from the ninth video input terminal 19 via the changeover switch 2 to the second video signal switching device 200. from this output terminal 4 to the ninth video input terminal 19 of the first video signal switching device 100, and from this ninth video input terminal 19 via the changeover switch 2. video signal switching device 100
The image taken by the video camera 301 is displayed on a monitor receiver 51 connected to the output terminal 4 of the video camera 301 .

[0040] Then, one second after the video signal from the video camera 301 is output from the output terminal 4 of the first video signal switching device 100, the first and second video signals are With the changeover switches 2 of the changeover devices 100 and 200 unchanged, the third video signal changeover device 30
0 changeover switch 2 is switched so that the video signal from the video camera 302 is output from the output terminal 4. Also at this time, the input selection switch 20 of the third video signal switching device 300 corresponding to the video camera 302 is turned on. Then, in the same manner, the video signals from the video cameras 303, 304, . . In this way, the video signals from the eight video cameras 301 to 308 are switched and output from the output terminal 4 of the first video signal switching device 100 every second, and the video signals from the eight video cameras 301 to 308 are switched and outputted to the monitor receiver 51. After the video signals from 108, 201 to 208 are displayed, the video cameras 301 to 308
Videos from the video are displayed in sequence every second.

[0041] When one second has elapsed since the video signal from the video camera 308 was output, the switch 2 of the first video signal switching device 100 is selected to select the ninth video input terminal 19. In response to a command from the central control device 1 of the master (first) video signal switching device 100, the changeover switch 2 of the second and third video signal switching devices 200, 300 selects the ninth video input terminal 19,
Furthermore, the changeover switch 2 of the fourth video signal switching device 400
A video camera 4 connected to the first video input terminal 11 at
The video signal from 01 is switched to be output from output terminal 4. At this time, the input selection switch 20 of the fourth video signal switching device 400 corresponding to the video camera 401 is turned on.

By doing this, the video signal from this video camera 401 is transferred to the fourth video signal switching device 40.
0 output terminal 4 to the ninth video input terminal 19 of the third video signal switching device 300, and from this ninth video input terminal 19 via the changeover switch 2, the signal is supplied to the third video signal switching device 300. from this output terminal 4 to the ninth video input terminal 19 of the second video signal switching device 200, and from this ninth video input terminal 19 via the changeover switch 2. video signal switching device 200
from this output terminal 4 to the ninth video input terminal 19 of the first video signal switching device 100, and from this ninth video input terminal 19 to the changeover switch 2.
is supplied to the output terminal 4 of the first video signal switching device 100 via the monitor receiver 5 connected to this output terminal 4.
1, a video shot by the video camera 201 is displayed.

[0043] When one second elapses after the video signal from the video camera 401 is output from the output terminal 4 of the first video signal switching device 100, the video signal from the first, second and third While the changeover switches 2 of the video signal switching devices 100, 200, and 300 are left as they are, the changeover switch 2 of the fourth video signal switching device 400 is changed to the video camera 4
The video signal from 02 is switched to be output from the output terminal 4. Also at this time, the input selection switch 20 of the third video signal switching device 400 corresponding to the video camera 402 is turned on. Then, in the same manner, the video signals from the video cameras 403, 404, . . In this way, the first video signal switching device 4
8 video cameras 40 every second from output terminal 4 of 00
The video signals from 1 to 408 are switched and output, and the video signals from the video cameras 101 to 108, 201 to
After the video signals from the video cameras 208, 301-308 are displayed, the videos from the video cameras 401-408 are sequentially displayed every second.

[0044] When one second has elapsed since the video signal from the video camera 408 was output, the next time the video signal from the video camera 101 connected to the first video input terminal 11 of the first video signal switching device 100 is output. Output the video signal to output terminal 4.
The changeover switch 2 is changed so that the output is output from the video cameras 101, 102, and so on, and the changeover is repeated in the above-mentioned order.

[0045] In this way, each video camera 101~
108,201~208,301~308,401~4
The video signal shot and output from 08 is sequentially supplied to the monitor receiver 51 every second, and the monitor receiver 51
Displayed in seconds, all video signal switching devices 100 to 40
If 8 video cameras are connected to 0, images from a total of 32 video cameras will be displayed for 1 second at a cycle of 32 seconds.

[0046] Therefore, up to 32 locations can be monitored with just one monitor receiver 51 (or VTR), and many locations can be monitored satisfactorily with a monitoring system using a small number of devices. In this case, the plurality of video switching devices 100 to 400 are controlled by the central control device 1 of the master video signal switching device 100, and in the case of monitoring up to 32 locations, a control device such as a computer device is used. You can configure your surveillance system without using .

When monitoring is performed by this switching device, the input selection switch 2 of each video signal switching device is
The lighting state of 0 indicates which video camera (input terminal) the video is being displayed from. In addition, the monitor receiver 5
This input number is also displayed in the corner of the video displayed in 1 by superimposing the character data of the input number in the superimpose circuit 3, and this number display also indicates which video camera is displaying the video. be announced. Therefore,
For example, when the video switched by the video switching devices 100 to 400 is recorded on a VTR, and each monitoring location is in the same room with almost no change, and it is not possible to determine which location is from the video alone, this number display You can determine where the recorded video is.

In this case, this input number display is determined by the central control unit 1 of the master video signal switching device 100 determining the number of connected slaves, and selecting the second, third, and fourth video signal switching devices. While switching between images from 200, 300, and 400, the input number is automatically changed. That is, the first to eighth video input terminals 11 to 18 of the four video signal switching devices 100 to 400 are connected to input numbers 1 to 8, 9 to 16, and 17 to 2.
For example, when the video signal obtained from the first video input terminal 11 of the second video signal switching device 200 is selected and displayed on the monitor receiver 51, the input number Display 9. Therefore, in each slave video signal switching device 200 to 400, there is no need to change the input number setting.

[0049] When in this automatic switching mode, for example, if any input selection switch 20 is pressed, the video input terminal of the input number corresponding to the pressed input selection switch 20 is selected. Switch to the available image. When the same input selection switch 20 is pressed again, the mode is returned to the automatic switching mode in which switching is performed at predetermined time intervals. Therefore, when performing monitoring by automatic switching, it is possible to temporarily focus on monitoring a specific monitoring location.

Furthermore, when there is a place where there is no need to monitor, the active switch 30 corresponding to the video camera installed at the place where there is no need to monitor is set to an inactive state, thereby preventing the video camera from monitoring the place. No video is displayed, which is suitable when, for example, it is desired to change the monitoring location depending on the time.

Furthermore, when an alarm signal is supplied to the alarm input terminals 41 to 48 of any of the video signal switching devices during the automatic switching mode, the automatic switching is temporarily stopped and the alarm signal is selects and outputs the video signal from the video camera corresponding to the number of the terminal to which the alarm signal is supplied with the changeover switch 2, and stores the number of the terminal to which the alarm signal is supplied and time data in the RAM 7b;
Furthermore, depending on the set operation mode, a warning sound is output from the speaker for a predetermined period of time, and a warning lamp is made to blink for a predetermined period of time. Therefore, for example, by arranging an infrared sensor at each monitoring location and supplying an alarm signal from the infrared sensor to the alarm input terminals 41 to 48 of each video signal switching device, it is possible to detect an intruder at each monitoring location. When the intruder is present, the video of the surveillance location where the intruder was located is automatically displayed on the monitor receiver 51, and the alarm circuit 9 warns of this, and for example, when the video of another surveillance location is displayed. Even if there is an intruder, the intruder will not be overlooked and can be monitored reliably. Also, instead of monitoring in real time with the monitor receiver 51,
When monitoring an unattended place at night, the presence of this intruder can be found later from the data stored in the memory device 7.

Furthermore, by canceling this automatic switching mode, a manual switching operation corresponding to the operation of the input selection switch 20 is performed.

[0053] When four video signal switching devices are connected in this manner, switching operations are automatically performed in unison. Therefore, only 8 video cameras can be connected with one video signal switching device, but by connecting 4 video signal switching devices, 32 video cameras can be connected and the images from each video camera can be connected. can be monitored. In this case, by simply setting one predetermined video signal switching device as the master, the other video signal switching devices automatically become slaves, and switching can be performed by commands from the central control device 1 of the master video signal switching device. Various operations such as these can now be performed, and there is no need for any setting work on the slave side. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, the transmission of a command from this master video signal switching device and the transmission of a response to this command are one of the video signals handled by this video signal switching device.
Since this is done for everything within a vertical period, an instruction such as switching the input video is not given over two vertical periods, and the video is not disturbed at the time of switching. That is, in each video signal switching device, when an input video switching instruction is received, the switching is performed in the next vertical blanking period.
Switching is performed within the same vertical blanking period in all connected video signal switching devices, the switching timings match, and the video is not disturbed during switching.

Next, a system configuration for monitoring 32 or more locations using the video signal switching device of this example will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, 70 indicates a center that controls a plurality of video signal switching devices 100, 200, etc., and a personal computer 71 as a control device is installed on the center 70 side. The plurality of video signal switching devices 100, 200, . . . are connected every four as shown in FIG. That is, a group consisting of a master and a slave shown in FIG. 2 is formed for each of the four video signal switching devices, and each group has one monitor receiver 51, 52...
are prepared, and the respective monitor receivers 51, 52... are connected to the master video signal switching devices 100, 500... of each group. Then, the master video signal switching device 100
, 500... 8 surveillance video cameras 101 to 10
8,501 to 508... are connected, and slave video signal switching devices 200, 300... are connected in sequence,
Eight monitoring video cameras 201 to 208, 301 to 308, 40 are also installed in each slave video signal switching device.
1 to 408, 601 to 608... are connected. A master video signal switching device 100,500 for each group...
Under the control of..., the video signals supplied to the monitor receivers 51, 52... are switched according to predetermined operations. The bus line of the personal computer 71 is connected to the bus line 1b of the master video signal switching device 100, 500 of each group, and the personal computer 71 and the master video signal switching device 100, 500 of each group are connected to each other. It is possible to communicate between. That is, the video signal switching devices 100, 500 are not used for connecting the master and slave of each group.
Connects to a personal computer 71 using the bus line 1b port of .
A main bus line is formed between the masters and slaves of each group, and a bus line connecting the master and slave of each group is defined as a sub bus line. These main bus lines and sub bus lines allow control commands to be sent from the personal computer 71 to all video signal switching devices via the master video signal switching devices 100, 500 of each group, and also to each slave The video signal switching device can also transmit data related to alarm signals to the personal computer 71 via the master video signal switching device 100, 500, . . . . By being able to communicate in this way, the monitoring video cameras in each group can be uniformly switched under the control of the personal computer 71. In this case, the personal computer 71 sets the address to "00" and sequentially sets the addresses "01", "02", etc. to the master video signal switching devices 100, 500, etc. of each group. Also, within each group, the master video signal switching device is set to the local address “
00", and the three slave video signal switching devices have local addresses "01", "02", and "03".

The personal computer 71 on the center 70 side includes a memory device 72 for storing various monitoring data on a floppy disk or the like, a still image file device 73 for storing still images on a magneto-optical disk, etc. A transmitter 74 is connected to transmit the information to a predetermined location via a telephone line 75. The still image file device 73 and the transmitter 74 are connected to the master video signal switching device 100, 500 of each group to the monitor receiver 51, 52.
The same video signal (that is, the video signal switched in each group) as the video signal supplied to the . It can be stored in the file device 73 and transmitted by the transmitter 74 over the telephone line 75.

In this case, in this example, when data regarding an alarm signal is transmitted from the master video signal switching device 100, 500 of each group to the personal computer 71, the still image file device is transferred under the control of the personal computer 71. The video signal supplied to the transmitter 73 is stored as a still image, and the video signal supplied to the transmitter 74 is transmitted to the telephone line 75. That is, when an alarm signal that detects an intruder etc. is supplied to any of the video signal switching devices from a sensor corresponding to a surveillance video camera connected to the video signal switching devices 100, 200, etc. of each group, the corresponding video signal switching device 100, 200... Data such as the address and time at which this alarm signal occurred is transmitted from the master video signal switching device of the group to the personal computer 71 of the center 70. When data related to this alarm signal is transmitted to the personal computer 71, this transmitted data is stored in the memory device 72, and the personal computer 71
Under this control, the still image file device 73 stores one field (or one frame) of the video signal output from the master video signal switching device of the corresponding group at this time. When the transmitter 74 is set to transmit, the transmitter 74 transmits one field (or one frame) of still image signals to a predetermined location via the telephone line 75. In this case, data regarding the alarm signal is also transmitted.

In this way, the video signal captured by the surveillance video camera corresponding to the sensor that detects an abnormality such as an intruder is stored in the center 70 side as a still image, so that the center 70 side stores the video signal in the memory device 72. The location and time of occurrence of the abnormality can be determined from the data related to the alarm signal stored in the still image file device 73, and the status of the monitoring location at this time can be determined from the data stored in the still image file device 73. The state of occurrence of abnormality can be known in detail on the 70 side, and monitoring of a large number of locations can be performed intensively and efficiently. Moreover, by being able to transmit data and still images related to this alarm signal to a predetermined location via a telephone line, it becomes possible to monitor even a location remote from the monitoring location. In this case, in this example, the connection between the personal computer 71 as a control means and each video signal switching device 100, 200, etc. is divided into a main bus line and a sub bus line. Communication via the main bus line can be performed freely without considering communication timing within each group via sub-bus lines (see FIG. 4), and control can be performed relatively easily.

In the above embodiment, a video camera for monitoring is connected to all the video input terminals of each video signal switching device, but other video signal sources may be connected to the video input terminals. Furthermore, although still images and the like are transmitted from the transmitter to a remote location via a telephone line, they may be transmitted using other transmission means. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can take various other configurations.

[0059]

According to the present invention, when an abnormality occurs in the monitoring location of each video camera and an alarm signal is supplied to the video signal switching device, data regarding this alarm signal is collected at the control means of the center. This allows the center to centrally and efficiently monitor the status of multiple monitoring locations.

[0060] In this case, when an abnormality occurs at each monitoring location and an alarm signal is supplied, the still image taken from the video camera of the corresponding monitoring location is stored in the still image storage means of the center. , the center side can determine the occurrence of an abnormality.

Furthermore, in this case, when an abnormality occurs at each monitoring location and an alarm signal is supplied, a still image taken from the video camera of the corresponding monitoring location is transmitted to a predetermined location. It is possible to determine the occurrence of an abnormality even from a remote location.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a video signal switching device applied to an embodiment of a monitoring system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram showing an embodiment of the monitoring system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a connection diagram showing an embodiment of the monitoring system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram for explaining one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Central control device 2 Changeover switch 3 Superimpose circuit 4 Output terminal 5 Character generation circuit 6 Setting switch 7 Memory device 7a ROM 7b RAM 8 Clock device 9 Alarm circuit 11-19 Video input terminal 20 Input selection switch 30 Active switch 41- 48 Alarm input terminals 51, 52 Monitor receiver 61 Synchronization generator 70 Center 71 Personal computer 72 Memory device 73 Still image file device 74 Transmitter 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600
Video signal switching devices 101-108, 201-208, 301-308, 4
01-408, 501-508, 601-608 Video camera

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: In a surveillance system using a plurality of video signal switching devices that switch and output video signals supplied from a plurality of surveillance video cameras, the plurality of video signal switching devices are divided into groups of several devices. control means for controlling the master video signal switching device of each group, with one predetermined video signal switching device for each group serving as a master and the other video signal switching devices serving as slaves; storage means connected to the control means, and transmitting switching data from the control means to the master video signal switching device of each group to control switching in all of the video signal switching devices of each group. At the same time, data regarding alarm signals supplied to all of the video signal switching devices of each group is transmitted from the master video signal switching device of each group to the control means, A monitoring system in which this data is stored in a storage means. 2. In a surveillance system using a plurality of video signal switching devices that switch and output video signals supplied from a plurality of surveillance video cameras, a control means for controlling the plurality of video signal switching devices; still image storage means connected to the control means, transmitting switching data from the control means to control switching in all of the video signal switching devices, and transmitting switching data from the video signal switching devices regarding alarm signals. A surveillance system wherein, when data is transmitted to the control means, a video signal from the surveillance video camera corresponding to this alarm signal is stored in the still image storage means. 3. In a surveillance system using a plurality of video signal switching devices that switch and output video signals supplied from a plurality of surveillance video cameras, a control means for controlling the plurality of video signal switching devices; transmission means for transmitting the output video signal of the video signal switching device, transmitting switching data from the control means to control switching in all of the video signal switching devices, and transmitting the switching data from the video signal switching device. A monitoring system wherein, when data regarding an alarm signal is transmitted to the control means, a video signal from the surveillance video camera corresponding to the alarm signal is transmitted to a predetermined location by the transmission means.